Narine recalled

Sunil Narine has been recalled to the West Indies squad and is in the 15-man World Cup squad in Australia and New Zealand starting next month. It runs from Feb. 14 to March 29.

The West Indies squad includes five all-rounders, four fast bowlers, four specialist batsmen and two spinners.

Narine’s return is a great boost for West Indies. A proven match winner, he was ranked No. 2 on the one-day international and T20 rankings when his action was reported as suspect in successive matches during the Champions League Twenty20 last September. It resulted in Narine’s being excluded from the final for Kolkata Knight Riders, who lost to Chennai Super Kings.

The inexperienced Jason Holder, the surprising new captain for the South Africa one-day international series, is retained as skipper.

Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard – two of the world’s best all-rounders – are left out by the Clive Lloyd-led selection panel, which suggests the notorious West Indies selection process is still woefully inadequate.

Darren Bravo is recalled, although he opted out of the Test series for personal reasons and wasn’t part of the one-day internationals against South Africa.

Chris Gayle showed in his comeback match against South Africa last week that he is back to his magnificent best after five months out injured.

Fast bowler Kemar Roach, who suffered an ankle injury in the Centurion Test and had to return home, is back.

Lloyd said he believes this is a strong team capable of winning the World Cup with an excellent mix of youth and experience.

“If they play to their potential I am quite sure we will do very well,” Lloyd said. “We have the talent and if we can play to our potential we have a very good chance of lifting that trophy.”